Does EA Mythic want my money again yet?

[Ray]

I'd still like to give EA Mythic my money for playing on a classic shard. Mythic proper was man enough to admit they screwed up big time and added a classic server or two. Hopefully the UO department isn't still stuck in the failed strategy of "we're moving forward not backward."

So dooes EA Mythic want my cash or not?




Incidentally, this screen shot made me laugh and get sort of sad at the same time. What the hell have you done to the game I once loved?

 

[Duke X. Winter]

....umm........what?

 

[Treyster18]

Yea....i dont really understand this post thread, makes no sense to me

 

[Guest]

Here's my take on the post.

"I'll be back when you have a classic server so I don't have to see that ugly ass elf crap I see in this pic."

 

[Treyster18]

I do have to agree however, that a new Classic shard separate from all other shards (like siege and mugen) obviously being non xferable to and from, Would be one hell of a sweet idea, a fresh start for everyone, siege and mugen are pvp based pretty much, so a classic version of that (trammel version) would be a kick ass idea IMO

 

[Mystic_Of_Cats]

It's been talked about a million and a half times. Unfortunately, EA doesn't see the sense in it...

 

[Guest]

I think and belive a clasic shard would bring a bunch of folks back.
If we want to atract alot of folks we mu use pre P15 or even a bit younger wersion of UO.

 

[Dean478]

Oh tell me about it!!! I WANT MY ULTIMA ONLINE: THE SECOND AGE BACK THANK YOU!

EA, some advice. Go outside, travel to Britannia Manor, ask to see Richard Garriot and politely ask for his services. Before you know it, we'll have Ultima the way it SHOULD be. Without the stupid elves, new PVP ruleset etc.

Keep Kingdom reborn. It's a fantastic graphical and UI update. Stygian Abyss even sounds like a great expansion thanks to its roots in Ultima history. Illshenar and LBR can stay since it took it's content from recycled UO2.

I want my original Ultima Online back. All that was missing was some GM moderation for the murderers who abused the system. If I could re-write UO I'd bring back a classic server, then The Second Age, Lord Blackthorn's Revenge and then the new Stygian Abyss. The paladin and Necromancer stuff can come with LBR.

 

[Guest]

As good as old UO was, it would be like firing up any other old game. You'd be disappointed. It wouldn't be as good as you remembered, and once you were done with denial you would realize your memories from 1997-1999 can't compete with the games available present day. And then you'd just pancake more. I'd say, find a new game already, or enjoy UO for what it has become.

 

[imported_ParadoxUO]

"What is good?"

"To crush your enemies -- See them burn before you, and to hear the lamentation of their bots! That is good!"

GO UO!

 

[Guest]

??? whazzat you say?

 

[Dean478]

<blockquote><hr>

??? whazzat you say?

[/ QUOTE ]


Mythic released a rather controversial expansion for dark Age of Camelot. Along the lines of Age of Shadows with a mix of Renaissance and the worst bits of Mondain's Legacy.

They admitted it was a bad idea and released some very very popular classic servers which include everything but the bad bits of those expansions.


In this case what he's asking for is the original mechanics of Britannia (no Tram/Fel split), removal of the AoS item properties, removal of the raid like content of Doom/Peerless and champspawn and the removal of the elves. Basically the original Ultima Online that Richard Garriott envisioned before he left.

What they also did was clustered servers together which isn't really applicable to UO.

 

[Guest]

I was in DAoC for Trials of Atlantis expansion which is what I *think* is the one they admittedly borked.

However, and having seen this general topic for the last 4 years <font color=red>EA has no current plans for a retro/pre-AoS or other shard setup</font color=red>. That said, why cannot people in general take it as gospel since several Dev Teams and management heads have stated this.

OP: If this is what you want, then you are SOL.

 

[BamBamJohnson]

<blockquote><hr>

That said, why cannot people in general take it as gospel since several Dev Teams and management heads have stated this.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think if it's a spiel or a rant then it really doesnt matter that the Devs arent going to implement it.

 

[Dean478]

<blockquote><hr>

I was in DAoC for Trials of Atlantis expansion which is what I *think* is the one they admittedly borked.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep that's the one.

<blockquote><hr>


However, and having seen this general topic for the last 4 years <font color=red>EA has no current plans for a retro/pre-AoS or other shard setup</font color=red>. That said, why cannot people in general take it as gospel since several Dev Teams and management heads have stated this.


[/ QUOTE ]


Becuase it's something tehy want very badly? It's obviously popular, we can see this from all the free shards people run. Can't blame them for trying. Also the "no plans" statement isn't from EA Mythic. Mythic are more in touch with their community than most developers.

 

[Guest]

<blockquote><hr>

&lt;snip&gt;
Illshenar and LBR can stay since it took it's content from recycled UO2.
&lt;snip&gt;


[/ QUOTE ]

Funny you should mention UO2. I'm teaching a class on game design this term and I was mentioning to one of my students how EA/Origin had killed UO2 back in early 2001. I went looking for the promo video from the in-house alpha that had been posted in 2000 and found it at
http://www.ultimalegend.com/index_eng.php?titre=eng/uo2_titre.htm&amp;main=eng/uo2_downloads.htm

Eight years later and the eye-candy still looks reasonable.

 

[Dean478]

<blockquote><hr>

<blockquote><hr>

&lt;snip&gt;
Illshenar and LBR can stay since it took it's content from recycled UO2.
&lt;snip&gt;


[/ QUOTE ]

Funny you should mention UO2. I'm teaching a class on game design this term and I was mentioning to one of my students how EA/Origin had killed UO2 back in early 2001. I went looking for the promo video from the in-house alpha that had been posted in 2000 and found it at
http://www.ultimalegend.com/index_eng.php?titre=eng/uo2_titre.htm&amp;main=eng/uo2_downloads.htm

Eight years later and the eye-candy still looks reasonable.

[/ QUOTE ]

Yep I was looking forward to that game so much. Was bringing the world of Ultima forward so much in the original Ultima tradition.

I couldn't believe the arrogance and ignorance of EA. I remember an EA worker on these very boards claiming that NOTHING in Lord Blackthorn's Revenge was from the cancelled UO2.... well have a look at the trailers themselves and tell me that.

Couple that withthe cancellation of Wing Commander Online and EA really screwed up some big name franchises that'd easily be competing with the current top dogs of online gaming. Awell. Now we're left with a very awkwardly evolved Ultima that while is still healthy, isn't exactly pushing the Ultima universe forward.

Kingdom Reborn is the best thing in a long time to breathe some life into UO. I reckon a classic server would bring many back.

 

[Guest]

From the UHall FAQ, response filed 10/30/04. Please note the reason WHY it will NOT happen.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

From old Read-Only FAQ board (Updated 10/23/2001)

This FAQ was originally posted by Cynthe


Will you ever create a pre-UOR rules shard?

No.

Turning back time three years to reinstate the code as it was then is not possible, and there have been far too many improvements and additions made to the game since then to create a new shard without those!

We also have no current plans to get rid of the Trammel or Felucca ruleset.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Several "revert back to ..." threads have gotten Dev feedback and ALL of it reinforced/restated that same statement as above ... even after the EA/Mythic team came into being. The bolds are part of the original posting.

As far as FPS ... the F is what ... FREE. Compared to EA, that's really cheap and if they are the supply for the demand there is no need to ask here. Is there?

Don't get me wrong ... I would not want a totally pre-Tram setup but one that has a mix of several publishes and editions. &lt;shrug&gt;

 

[Dean478]

<blockquote><hr>

From the UHall FAQ, response filed 10/30/04. Please note the reason WHY it will NOT happen.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

From old Read-Only FAQ board (Updated 10/23/2001)

This FAQ was originally posted by Cynthe


Will you ever create a pre-UOR rules shard?

No.

Turning back time three years to reinstate the code as it was then is not possible, and there have been far too many improvements and additions made to the game since then to create a new shard without those!

We also have no current plans to get rid of the Trammel or Felucca ruleset.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Several "revert back to ..." threads have gotten Dev feedback and ALL of it reinforced/restated that same statement as above ... even after the EA/Mythic team came into being. The bolds are part of the original posting.

As far as FPS ... the F is what ... FREE. Compared to EA, that's really cheap and if they are the supply for the demand there is no need to ask here. Is there?

Don't get me wrong ... I would not want a totally pre-Tram setup but one that has a mix of several publishes and editions. &lt;shrug&gt;

[/ QUOTE ]


See that's my point, the Cynthe I remember reading back when I was playing UO all those years ago. Has there been any official statments on anything from Mythic. Something a little more formal since UO's development moved into the actual Mythic office in Virginia.

The issue I see here is laziness. It is extremely possible to create an Ultima Online: The Second Age shard, and easily impliment the new and improved mechanics. Free shards are doing it right now. And yes it's easy enough to play on a free shard and thus take it out of Mythic's hands, but in the end, that's business that Mythic loses, not the players. It's also a community that becomes EXTREMELY fragmented.

Imagine trying to release a movie at the cinema, but everyone else is taking your movie and making their own versions. Pretty daunting for a content developer.

Most of these "improvements" are what people don't want anyway. Things like artifacts (mostly their imbalance/accessibility), elves, Samurai Empire, Tram/Fel ruleset, factions, removal of Order/Chaos, peerless, champion spawn, power scrolls etc.

I'm very jealous of Mythic's work on DAoC. They release an expansion that makes an extreme alter on the core game mechanics, much like what Age of Shadows and Renaissance have done and they get an apology as well as a classical server for those wanting the new content without the modified mechanics. That's astounding. That's also why people want to stay in that community.

 

[Ray]

Sad/funny to see all of the "huh?" replies, like there wasn't a UO before artifacts, elves, sunglasses, or even Trammel. Oh well.


<blockquote><hr>

That said, why cannot people in general take it as gospel since several Dev Teams and management heads have stated this.


[/ QUOTE ]

Because I've spoken to several (now ex-)EA employees in person who have contradicted that.

Because Mark Jacobs doesn't have any emotional investment in UO and is a pretty good business person.

Because UO is in maintenance mode and not gaining any new subscribers any time soon.

Because data changes are cheap and easy; real content is hard and expensive.

Mostly though, because "dev teams and management heads" rotate through UO faster than a fast food joint and what one producer said a year ago doesn't mean much to the 3 producers who've come and gone since then. You act like there's any continuity to the UO product management staff...there isn't, really. All it takes is one product manager being shown the demand, him crunching the numbers, and then realizing that assigning two $40k a year designers and a $2000 server the task to create the shard is worth doing.


Mark is a smart guy. When ROME IN SPAAAAACEEEEE got slagged at E3 a few years ago, he swallowed his pride and cancelled the project. When DAOC released a really bad addition to the game, he eventually swallowed his pride and propped two pre-patch servers. It can happen with UO.


But hey, just ignore me and go back to riding around on green lizards with your purple skinned sunglasses-wearing elves. The hundreds of thousands of us that played and loved UO? We'll keep on ignoring it's current incarnation right back.

 

[Dean478]

<blockquote><hr>


Mostly though, because "dev teams and management heads" rotate through UO faster than a fast food joint.. You act like there's any continuity to the UO product management staff...there isn't, really.

[/ QUOTE ]


Key words here!!

Look at UO's development.

Shattered Legacy and The Second Age. Under the guidance of Lord British, these are pure Ultima games.

Renaissance was a very poor attempt to fix an imbalance favouring murdering players. Murdering made the game world real. But too many people WANTED to be evil because there was too much incentive. Killing players gave more physical rewards than monsters. So why not? Completely splittign the world in two destroyed player communities, teh feel of a virtual world and a key gameplay element of hte game (stealing/looting/murder which all fit the vision of UO).

Third Dawn. A failed attempt to improve the look and UI of Ultima Online. Good at heart, simply poorly implimented.

Lord Blackthorn's Revenge: Lots of effort went into this. Most of it was from the cancelled Ultima Online 2. Most of the content is still "true" Ultima as it was all created with the teams led by Richard Garriot and Starr Long. It was recycled and it's story based content was invented as an excuse to impliment it, not a reason. It should have allowed UO to EVOLVE into Ultima Online 2, rather than simply add content.

Age of Shadows: Now this is the stupid move. Paladins and Necromancers were a very long tiem coming. But creating a new world and ESPECIALLY the item properties weren't. It completely destroyed the way items and gear functioned in the world. I don't really need to explain it.

Samurai Empire: Not bad. I don't really have much to say on it. They claim it was the Land of the Feudal Lords from Ultima 1. But with Ultima 1's graphics, tehre is no way to tell if the land did or did not have an oriental theme. This one's open to debate with Lord British if it fits his vision.

Mondain's Legacy: I admire every thing they did with this. I really do. They tried to explain it with Ultima 1's lore. But htey introduced things that Lord British tried to remove from his vision. Elves were all gone by Ultima 4. Garriott specifically stated he wanted to remove the conventional fantasy elements and focus on something more human. He still continues this today with Tabula Rasa.

Artifacts weren't a bad idea, but the neon colours in place of unique artwork was very uncreative. Mages in plate? Leather stronger than Plate? It continued on AoS stupid item changes.


Kingdom Reborn is only a much needed graphical improvement so no need to discuss it. The only problem is it's largescale map removes the in-game need for map making.

UO's vision has twisted so much it's not funny. The fact we can use phrases as "Pre-UOR" and "Pre-AoS" so frequently shows how much Ultima's path has branched.

It's one thing to say I don't like this new land, or this new class, but to ask for completely REVIEWED GAME MECHANICS, that's a whole other issue. A dire issue.

 

[Dean478]

Why was this moved to a forum where it won't be seen by officials?

It was basically a request for any further development BY THE NEW team, not a 7 year old developer who no longer is even associated with Ultima...

It's hardly a rant! Far out, any challenge to the item monopolies and elves that people charish tehse days and we simply silence it...

 

[BamBamJohnson]

<blockquote><hr>



As far as FPS ... the F is what ... FREE. Compared to EA, that's really cheap and if they are the supply for the demand there is no need to ask here. Is there?


[/ QUOTE ]

Again, if it is a spiel or a rant I'm pretty sure it's fair game. This is the correct forum right?

And to say that someone already provides a similar service so why implement it on the official game servers that people pay money to play on is not a very persuasive argument. I'm pretty sure there are a host of reasons for wanting it to be on an official server:

1) stability. bugs (theoretically) would be fixed faster on a pay to play shard where presumably money goes towards staff that can resolve problems in a timely manner. (Note the theoretically).
2) character security. Less likely that EA is going to close up shop and delete everyone's characters.
3) population density. There would likely be more players on simultaneously on an official server running a classic shard than on a free server.

And that's just off the top of my head.

Saying that because you can get a feature through an unofficial source, and that's why the devs don't have to do it here (even when a ton of their player base would be totally stoked and excited to see it implemented) is just silly. It's like saying you can get free health care in thailand so why not move there instead of trying to get your elected officials (who we pay in the form of taxes) to implement it here?